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Dedicated Halo 2 Fans Keep Multiplayer Alive

Posted by Soulskill on from the never-surrender dept.

On April 15th, Microsoft terminated Xbox Live support for the original Xbox console, marking the end of online multiplayer for many older games. However, a group of Halo 2 players have refused to give up online play by leaving their consoles on and connected since then. Overheating consoles and dropped connections have taken their toll, but at present, 13 players are still going strong.

34 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. MS should... by blahplusplus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    really be required to legally release server side software for the PC to enable people to play their Xbox games. Quite frankly I really hate this bullshit service where companies have control over games people paid for in a "forced obsolescence" model of attempting to control the lifespan of a product and when to torch it to force people to upgrade.

    It's unfortunate that the copyright and software licensing nazi's got control of the law due to the ignorance of the people.

    1. Re:MS should... by JavaBear · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "We're talking about a *game*, not your oxygen supply"

      We are talking about money paid, and the principle of having companies take away our ability to use what we have legally paid for, just because they have us by the balls.

    2. Re:MS should... by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, what CONSUMERS "should" do is to QUIT buying software that's subject to such prone-obsolescence systems. If consumers are too stupid or unable to resist buying the latest and greatest despite such issues, then companies will continue to find it in their financial best interests to do so.

      At least with a PC, there are methods to hack around this (even WoW has private servers, illegal but they're there), but now you see part of the actual total-cost-of-ownership for that console.

      --
      -Styopa
    3. Re:MS should... by Hadlock · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More than likely the Halo 2 servers are running on a PC, be it virtualized or other. Microsoft is completely rewriting the Halo codebase from the ground up for Halo 4 or whatever it is they're calling it. Considering most people bought the game for the multiplayer releasing the source code for the servers is a small concession to make. Usually I could care less, but unless MS offers Halo 2 on the 360 live arcade for free to existing owners, Microsoft is kind of screwing over their customer base.
       
      I bought counter strike back in 1998, but I still pull it out and play it from time to time. Hell, it's Valve's most popular game to date*, even today. To top that off, Valve upgraded me to the Valve Platinum Pack for using the HL CD key that came with the copy of HL I bought just for Counter-Strike. The only thing Microsoft supports beyond the scheduled lifespan of the product is old Windows and Office updates as near as I can tell, never games.
       
      Valve actively supports their games and player base, Microsoft turns their back on them. Which one do you want to support?
       
      -
       
      *Actually right now it's COD4, but that's because they just had a $15 steam sale on it.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    4. Re:MS should... by blahplusplus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "No, what CONSUMERS "should" do is to QUIT buying software that's subject to such prone-obsolescence systems"

      Reality is people are too stupid to do this because the do not understand their rights, the informed minority is outnumbered by the ignorant majority. In theory the free market is supposed to work this way, in practice it absolutely does not as we've seen again and again.

    5. Re:MS should... by Peach+Rings · · Score: 3, Informative

      You mean you couldn't care less. Sorry, grammar nazi mode from all those Xbox's.

    6. Re:MS should... by tophermeyer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not trying to be a douche here, but the game is almost 6 years old and runs on an outdated service that was generally limited to an outdated console. The last original Xbox's were sold in 2006, and have not been supported by Microsoft for almost a year (seriously any original Xboxes that need service and are somehow still under warranty are simply replaced by an Xbox 360). People that buy multiplayer intensive video games have to enter into that knowing that the game will not be supported indefinitely. I can understand your criticism if it were directed at the mass of sports games that are re-released every year, but not this.

      Plus, the game still runs fine in single player and over system link. The only thing that is being discontinued is XBLive support, which Microsoft never promised would be maintained in perpetuity. Its not like MS is sending people out to repossess the disks.

    7. Re:MS should... by Vahokif · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The solution is simply to not buy consoles.

    8. Re:MS should... by kyrio · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't remember that, actually.

    9. Re:MS should... by YourExperiment · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The point is that if the server was freely available (like the vast majority of PC games until fairly recently) no-one would give a damn whether Microsoft was still supporting it, they'd just keep on playing anyway.

    10. Re:MS should... by peragrin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Every once in a while I pull out my diablo ii cd's and play

      certian movies put me in mood to play a turn based strategy game that came out in 1997 to the point I will install windows to play it.

      Good games hold their replay value. Companies that limit that value undermine future game sales.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    11. Re:MS should... by Chaos+Incarnate · · Score: 2, Informative

      You can still play multiplayer in Halo 2 on your Xbox over a local network, same as how you have to play Doom II or Quake 1. You just can't browse for & play online games, same as will happen when they yank the Quake III master server.

      (Yes, you can manually connect to servers over the Internet by IP once that happens, but you can do that with your Xbox too.)

      --
      Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."
    12. Re:MS should... by AnotherUsername · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It makes me feel like I moved from US to Soviet Russia and gave up all my freedoms.

      I completely agree. Not being able to play a game online is just like the massacres, disappearances, and political oppression visited upon people by the Soviet Russian government.

      --
      I don't like Linux. This doesn't make me a troll.
    13. Re:MS should... by obarthelemy · · Score: 2, Informative

      He's probably alluding to the snafu at Danger (an MS subsidiary), were a botched disk upgrade + botched backups lost pretty much all of Sidekick's clients data.

      Danger was seen as a trailblazer in cloud-based stuff, BTW. We've been warned :-p

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    14. Re:MS should... by HaZardman27 · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is a poor analogy. People can continue to play the game, and they can continue to play online through tunneling software. It's been out for six years now, MS doesn't need to continue to pay to keep the servers up for the small handful of people who haven't moved on since 2004.

      --
      Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
    15. Re:MS should... by Krau+Ming · · Score: 4, Funny

      hold on, let me just check my old emails... nope can't find anything...

    16. Re:MS should... by hansamurai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not sure how this is a failure of the free market, there are plenty of other choices out there besides Xbox Live and lots of people select them. Heck, Halo 2 is available on Windows if you want to play multiplayer, or you can even use third-party online services to still play on the Xbox. There are solutions out there to those who still want to play.

      --
      Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
    17. Re:MS should... by tophermeyer · · Score: 2, Informative

      The GP mentions that SystemLink is still available. Doesn't that mean that people can play multiplayer games via a tunneling solution? Have somebody throw together a frontend/matchmaking service for that and you've got exactly what you're asking for.

      I don't know what the state of it is right now, but I remember using XBConnect to play the original Halo online. The downside of if was that it didn't have Matchmaking or in game voice communication like XBlive does. I remember having to use a computer to join a chat room to find someone to play with, and only being able to communicate through chat. I don't know anything about where this stands now, but it seems to me that it would be workable.

      Of course, the OP's point (which after reflection I agree with) is that the End User shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get it to work. MS ought to make this known and available to players before they end their support.

    18. Re:MS should... by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Reality is people are too stupid to do this because the do not understand their rights, the informed minority is outnumbered by the ignorant majority. In theory the free market is supposed to work this way, in practice it absolutely does not as we've seen again and again.

      You call them too stupid. I call them people who do not care if they can play these games on Xbox Live six years later. The game still has LAN support. The fact that only a couple dozen people cared enough to try to do something about it is proof that nobody really cares. I just bought Halo 3 ODST because it finally had a major price drop at Costco ($25.) I don't care that one day, the only way I'll be able to do multiplayer is on a LAN. I'm sure I'll get $25 of enjoyment out of it, and I don't even have Live Gold. To some people it was worth $60 to get it when everyone else got it so they could play online, I'm not that guy.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    19. Re:MS should... by secretcurse · · Score: 2, Informative

      We are talking about money paid, and the principle of having companies take away our ability to use what we have legally paid for, just because they have us by the balls.

      Actually, when you buy a copy of Halo 2, you aren't automatically entitled to a lifetime of free XBox Live access. From the release of the game, you had to pay an extra montly subscription in order to access online multiplayer via XBox Live. Microsoft is no longer charging that monthly fee because the service is discontinued. Microsoft didn't take away the ability to play via system link, split screen, or single player. That's what a customer purchasing Halo 2 "legally paid for."

      --
      I'm using all of my mod points to mod ancient memes down. Please join me.
    20. Re:MS should... by cgenman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Please investigate the situations of individual titles before suggesting blanket solutions.

      Halo 2 is being end-of-lifed in no small part because it relies on an outmoded Xbox 1 Live server ecosystem. This has limited the Xbox 360 to a specific number of friends on their friends list, older types of interactions with people online, etc. There are a lot of people asking for upgrades to the Xbox that have been blocked for this one particular game, which Microsoft has kept alive for 4 years after the original console (that didn't sell that well anyway) went away.

      All of this relies upon Xbox Live. The game expects friend requests, chat requests, server pings, score update connections, DLC purchases, etc. All of these things are signed and protected to prevent A: online cheating, B: griefers, C: penis spam. Further, they have legal commitments to their partners to keep Xbox Live a secure system. This doesn't apply to most individual PC titles, as they are essentially standalone.

      For Microsoft to release official software that allowed people to play Xbox 1 games like Halo 2 online, they'd have to release large chunks of Xbox Live. Then they'd need to do things like strip out any dedicated IP's, Oracle database calls, other copyrighted code, etc that might be floating around in there. What would people get? An impenetrable mess that, at best, would still require a fake NAT and a server farm to work.

      Halo 2 fans, currently by comparison, can use SSH tunneling to create a fake LAN, and enjoy the game that way. This is a much more sane solution.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    21. Re:MS should... by tlhIngan · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is bogus. Online multiplayer is NOT included in Halo 2. It is a separate subscription fee (Xbox Live Gold). There is absolutely no legal basis whatsoever to justify forcing MS to release this functionality, because it was never included in the price you paid for Halo 2; it was always separate.

      If you weren't an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, then you're not missing out on anything now that you had before, because online play was never available to you anyway. If you're paying the XBL Gold fee to play Halo 2 online and they don't support it anymore, cancel your subscription or buy a new game.

      I hear Halo 3 is pretty good.

      Uninformed comments like these are exactly why MS charges for online play instead of giving it away for free. It means that as a vendor they get to decide what to sell, instead of being forced to sell or support a product they no longer want to offer, or being railroaded into giving it away for free.

      Not to mention that Microsoft really wants to upgrade Xbox Live. The reason they can't is because ONE GAME is preventing them from doing it. Yes, that game is Halo 2, which on the rankings is basically the #1 original Xbox game that was played on live by a huge margin. Even so, I think there were only something like 10,000 odd players at most, though I've seen reports saying that at its peak, it's only between 1000-2000 players worldwide.

      Given how many millions use Xbox Live (Gold), and how few actually play the one game that's holding it back architecturally, it's a sound choice I think. Plus, there's been two other multiplayer Halo FPS games since then (Halo 3 and Halo ODST).

      The only real question is Halo 2 for Vista (which works fine on Win7), since its Live client is updated independently of the game itself and has the potential for continuation of service (hell, multiplayer on that has long been free once Microsoft dropped the Games for Windows Live subscription requirement). Halo 2 fanatics can have their hand at that if they really, really, really hate gaming with Halo 3.

      360s aren't too expensive these days - I've seen many retailers do half-price discounting of the Arcade models ($100 brand new!), and add in a hard disk, or with the latest firmware, any USB mass storage, and you've upgraded. Halo 3's pretty cheap these days used or new. Or go Halo ODST and get Halo 3 multiplayer with it.

    22. Re:MS should... by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I love how everyone is "Oh poor MST", hey when did MSFT start getting the love? The issue here isn't about support dates, it is about screwing your customers. I have an old Win2K file server, when MSFT EOLs Win2K (IIRC at the end of the month) my file server won't just suddenly stop serving files. In other words while I can't just leave in on a wide open Internet it will do the intended job without MSFT's help.

      Now let's be honest folks: Halo ain't a great single player game. hell I would argue it ain't really a good single player game. The only reason the vast majority bought Halo is for fragging their buddies in multiplayer. So unlike my example, where they simply say "You are on your own, good luck" you have a corporation able to take away a product from you, because you can no longer use it for its intended purpose because they have cut the back end out.

      And where exactly does it end? I remember EA Sports cutting off multiplayer for Madden...I want to say 2009 but it may have been 2008, just a few months after retailers quit selling it! And of course those retailers should now be forced to place stickers on every Madden that is no longer supported saying "multiplayer is no longer functional" but instead are allowed to sell a product that can no longer be used as intended because EA has cut off the backend.

      Nobody is asking these corporations to provide support for eternity, just as I don't expect MSFT to keep patching my Win2K. But we all know it would be pretty easy for these corps to release a PC server app that would allow the users themselves to host games if they wanted. Otherwise every single used copy of a game with multiplayer removed by the corp should have to have a warning label affixed to its cover. Fair is fair folks, and right now MSFT and EA are taking a product you paid money for and crippling it after the fact, with no redress. I don't see how this is ANY different than Sony gutting other OS after the fact. Both moves are wrong and taking away something you paid for after the fact with no way to get it back.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    23. Re:MS should... by Khyber · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Microsoft didn't take away the ability to play via system link, split screen, or single player. That's what a customer purchasing Halo 2 "legally paid for.""

      No it's not, as multiplayer is specifically advertised on the game packaging.

      Oops, I don't have multiplayer access.

      And the game is still being sold in stores.

      False advertising.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  2. Unofficial route.. by Bert64 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Or you could go the unofficial route and play these games online using xlink kai (http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/)...

    Pity they clamped down on this with the 360, so once support for the 360 is turned off users will be screwed.

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  3. Isn't this what the fanboys said was impossible? by mikael_j · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I seem to recall that in pretty much every discussion about "rented" software, software that doesn't work without the developer's servers or online authentication there have been cadres of fanboys who have claimed that obviously the developers (including MS) would nevar!!1 just shut down their servers without first "opening" the game so that full functionality can be retained.

    So how's that trust in corporations working out for you?

    --
    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  4. Re:The price of a couple dedicated servers by JackieBrown · · Score: 4, Funny

    They need that 5-10k for Bing :)

  5. Re:One of the ley reasons I don't like online game by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not online games, it's online games where a company with a vested interest in obsolescence has control over the server. I can still play Quake 1 / QuakeWorld in multiplayer, for example. Both were released 14 years ago and the company that created them has released several sequels since then and has no incentive to keep operating servers. Because the online gaming happened over the Internet (rather than a walled garden like XBox Live) and the server software was made available, other people can continue to run servers for as long as there is a demand. When I was doing my PhD, I ran a QuakeWorld server in the lab for people to play on, both in the lab and from home. It sounds like Halo 2 players don't have that kind of option.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  6. Re:Get out of your mom's basement by cntThnkofAname · · Score: 2, Funny

    that would require a very long controller extension, possibly binoculars, and a social life.

  7. Re:One of the ley reasons I don't like online game by Stenchwarrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Exactly. ANY old ID game (not sure if you can say this about Duke Nukem or some older Blizzard games) still has many servers up and running AND people actually playing in them. I guess their Celeron 300 (Oc'd to 400, ofc) and their dual VOODOO2 running in SLI has to be used for something. But game-play can, in theory, go on indefinitely or until they stop supporting IPv4. Even then someone will build a patch. Because they can.

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    Loading...
  8. Re:This is why I love PC by HopefulIntern · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not with Modern Warfare 2 you can't.

  9. Forget the politics - these guys are awesome by Liambp · · Score: 3, Funny

    Forget about the politics for a moment. What these guys are doing is an awesome tale of human perseverance in the face of adversity. As a fellow gamer I salute them

  10. Re:This is why I love PC by wed128 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So buy a different game.

  11. Was on there as well by fyrewulff · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was on Halo 2 aswell until a couple of days ago. Actually got recorded in the last ranked game of Halo 2.

    It's kind of neat how fast the community got friendly with each other. I actually saw teabagging completely stop once it dropped down to about 30-40 people left.

    --
    "We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997